STOCKTON, Calif. -- Add Pacific's Troy Kopp to the list of record-breaking quarterbacks produced by the run-and-shoot offense.
Kopp threw for 390 yards against Hawaii last Saturday, setting an NCAA record with 1,884 yards over his last four games. Houston's Andre Ware had thrown for 1,820 yards over four games last season, when he won the Heisman Trophy.
'We're making progress,' Kopp said. 'It's exciting, especially after a pretty frustrating start. We've all got a good feeling about the building Coach (Walt) Harris is doing here.'
Kopp finally is starting to make his mark after a rough start to the season. He had completed only 2 of 11 passes in the season opener against Tennessee when he suffered a sprained left shoulder.
He missed the next two games, then threw for only 189 yards against Long Beach State in his return. Since then, he has passed for 415 yards against Nevada-Las Vegas, 515 against Fullerton State, 564 against New Mexico State and 390 against Hawaii.
'It took a while for me to get adjusted to the new offense,' Kopp said. 'I just wasn't seeing it all. But after a while, it seemed to really start to fall into place.'NEWLN: ------
IOWA CITY, Iowa (UPI) -- Iowa quarterback Matt Rodgers says he's living a dream. At any rate, he's having a better year than his father.
Rodgers has been instrumental in leading the Hawkeyes to a 6-1 record and a No. 13 rating. He completed 27 of 37 passes for 276 yards two weeks ago to lead Iowa to a 24-23 decision at Michigan, then threw two TD passes in a 56-14 romp over Northwestern.
'Life's a lot like a dream,' Rodgers said. 'I visualize a lot of things I do on a football field and I've seen some of this before. 'I could see us coming to Michigan and winning in front of 100,000 people.'
The Hawkeyes are tied for the conference lead with Illinois at 4-0, with the two teams meeting Saturday for the inside track to the Rose Bowl.
'We still have a long way to go,' Rodgers said. 'There's five games left and you can't take any of them lightly.'
If the Hawkeyes wind up in Pasadena, Rodgers' father should be able to attend. He's Jimmy Rodgers, who was fired as coach of the Boston Celtics last summer.NEWLN: ------
HIBBING, Minn. (UPI) -- Running the football apparently isn't in the game plan at Hibbing Community College, which set the national record for single-game passing yardage last week.
Freshman Jim Bergstadt completed 36 of 61 passes for 667 yards and seven touchdowns in Hibbing's 48-40 victory over Vermilion Community College. His yardage total surpassed the NCAA record 631 yards set by Utah quarterback Scott Mitchell in 1988.
Hibbing threw on its first play from scrimmage and its next 60 plays. The Cardinals did not attempt a running play until after taking the lead for the first time with 2:56 to go. Hibbing then ran six straight quarterback sneaks for 12 yards to run out the clock.
'We would have thrown every down if we had to,' Hibbing Coach Dale Heffron said.
Darron Riley caught 8 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, while Pat Vincent caught 5 passes for 170 and two TDs and Jason Hamilton grabbed 10 for 129 yards and one score. Scott Antonutti caught 8 passes for 50 yards, Elvis Rogers 4 for 54 and one TD and Damien Hamilton one for 6 yards.
Hibbing, 3-5, was winless last season. The Cardinals have scored 210 points this year -- more than they scored in the previous four years combined.NEWLN: ------
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (UPI) -- When is a punt not a punt?
Iona's Tom Kelleher fielded his own team's punt and ran it in 38 yards for a touchdown in the Gaels' 41-16 victory over Pace. The play was legal, thanks to a loophole in the rulebook.
The play began when Iona punter Eric Menocal was forced to field a bad snap, then avoid a heavy rush. His punt went straight up in the air, then fell to Kelleher, who ran untouched into the end zone.
If the ball had traveled past the line of scrimmage, it would have been ruled dead. But because Kelleher caught it behind the line, the punt was treated like a forward pass. The play went into the statistics as a 38-yard TD run.NEWLN: ------
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (UPI) -- The last time Linfield College had a losing record in football, the Berlin Wall hadn't even gone up.
Linfield, an NAIA Division II school, clinched its 35th straight winning season last weekend with a 45-35 victory over Whitworth (Wash.), the longest current streak of winning seasons of all 669 football- playing colleges in the United States.
Central College of Iowa, an NCAA Division III school, is second with 30 straight winning years, including this season. Nebraska is third with 29 and fourth-place Oklahoma can stretch its streak to 25 with one more victory in 1990.
The last time a Linfield football team had a losing season was 1955. Since then, it has gone 262-61-10, including three NAIA Division II national championships in the 1980s.
Linfield has had only two coaches during its 35-year streak. Paul Durham coached the first 12 years and one of his former standout players, Ad Rutschman, has run the team for the last 23.
